'Children's postcode does not define their future'

A town's ranking as the hardest place to grow up in England does not define its children's future, a teacher has said.

A report published by the Children's Commissioner about growing up in the UK said the lives of too many children were now "Dickensian with a modern twist", citing drugs and social media as two main areas where young people were exploited.

Middlesbrough came top of the list in the Childhood Lottery report, which analysed metrics such as health and social care, education and safety.

But deputy principal for curriculum and students at Middlesbrough College, Aimey Adamson, said the report was not about "their talent, their ambition or their potential".

The report concluded "the postcode lottery" was "real" and identified differences in children's experiences depending on where they lived.

It found there were "unacceptable outcomes and levels of service delivery for children in too many parts of the country", amounting to a "state of emergency" in some areas.

Wayne Mason, the chief executive of the Linx Youth Project which had been helping young people in Middlesbrough for more than 30 years, said cuts to youth sector funding had not helped matters in Middlesbrough.

"It is incredibly painful, it's actually quite disappointing naturally," he said.

"I mean what the report doesn't go into is the amount of work that's going on to make life better for youngsters.

"We've got some incredible people doing some incredible work right across Middlesbrough and it's just very sad that none of that was acknowledged."

In the report, Dame Rachel de Souza, Children's Commissioner for England, called for a minimum standard for children's services and said an emergency fund for improvements were needed.

She urged the Prime Minister to give larger local authorities and mayors more of a role in providing better education, health, youth services and policing for children.

In response to the report, Adamson said: "There are real challenges for some children and families, but this is about the circumstances around young people, not their talent, their ambition or their potential.

"I see resilient, ambitious young people every single day and the challenges are real, but it shouldn't define our young people.

"I think their postcode shapes their starting point, but it never defines where they're going."

Middlesbrough's Labour mayor Chris Cooke said the report's findings were "nothing new".

"They're linked to multi-generational social problems, inequalities in funding and national policies going back decades," he said.

Cooke said his own childhood experiences made it a "deeply personal issue".

Last year the mayor introduced a 10x10 scheme to ensure all children have 10 positive experiences before the age of 10 to broaden their horizons and give them opportunities they might not normally get.

He said he had helped open more youth clubs so there was one in every ward, but they were struggling against a tight council budget.

"It's not just our police force that needs more funding," he said, adding: "The wider system in our area is crying out for investment so that we can have good childhoods in every postcode."

The Department for Education said it was working to improve childcare support and school standards, and was giving more power to "local leaders" to shape the future of their education.

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